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Overview

The advent of mega ships with sizes of up to 20,000 TEU has forced large terminals to boost their productivity levels. Traditionally, the purchase of automated equipment offers relief while small and medium size terminals with manual equipment usually buy additional hardware like reach stackers or cranes to increase their productivity. Investments in infrastructure and automated equipment, however, require high capital expenditures.

Agile Optimization Modules, in contrast, can be implemented at a fraction of the cost and within a short period. Building on the functionality of any existing Terminal Operating Systems (TOS), modules allow tapping the full productivity potential of existing terminal assets; often delaying or reducing the need for infrastructure investment.

In particularly, when automated equipment is used, agile software can help to achieve a faster return on investment (ROI). As it optimizes automated operations in an intelligent way, SyncroTESS can both reduce the number of automated equipment required and maximize the usage of the automated equipment purchased.

Agile Optimization Modules Features

INFORM's Agile Optimization Modules for maritime and intermodal terminals optimize the movement of containers as well as the assignment of handling equipment in real-time. The software consists of various modules which can be adapted individually to specific terminal processes and integrated into existing TOS.

Yard Optimizer

Assigns an optimized position in the yard, or staging area, to each load unit. The overall goal is to use space efficiently, keep retrieval distances short, and to reduce the number of rehandlers considerably.

Crane Optimizer

Dynamically assigns each work order to the corresponding crane (rail, STS, or ASC crane) and optimizes their sequence of work orders reducing travel distances and improving on-schedule performance.

Vehicle Optimizer

Assigns each transport order to the most suitable vehicle (straddle carrier, reach stacker, AGV, tractor, etc.) in real-time and creates multiple transport chains reducing waiting times and minimizing empty travels.

Train Load Optimizer

Automatically creates optimized train load plans in both pre-planning as well as in real-time while loading is in progress. The result is a faster, on-schedule train dispatch and a significantly higher train load capacity.

Truck Scheduler

Calculates an optimized sequence of unloading and loading points for each truck and automatically assigns the required handling equipment reducing overall turnaround times.

Benefits

Optimization modules allow you to:

Increase productivity rapidly

thanks to short implementation process

Increase productivity selectively

through a great variety of optimization modules

Manage peak demand easily

without additional costly space or resources

Lower automation costs

through a faster return on investment (ROI)

Lower operative costs

thanks to optimized rescource allocation

Strengthen competitiveness

with low capital investment

Topics of Interest

Maritime Terminals

Maritime Terminals

The advent of megaships with sizes of up to 20,000 TEU, in particular, require reliable tools to manage peak demands. Whether manual, semi or fully-automated operation: Agile Optimization Modules can help maritime terminals to selectively increase productivity:

At Maasvlakte II, Netherlands (APM Terminals), INFORM’s software optimizes all rail crane operations as well as the container handover of the landside fleet of 62 fully automated transport vehicles (lift-AGVs).

At the port of Los Angeles, United States, TraPac, LLC will use INFORM’s software to optimize all rail cranes after expansion of its semi-automated terminal.

At the Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) in Hamburg, Germany, (HHLA) INFORM’s software combines optimization modules together with a powerful Terminal Operating System (TOS). This system was developed in cooperation with INFORM’s partner Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC).

Rail Terminals

Rail Terminals

Intermodal rail transfers can be made more efficient and environmentally friendlier with the help of optimization modules. Germany’s largest container rail terminal at the Container Terminal Altenwerden (CTA) in Hamburg, Germany, (HHLA) handles more than 813,000 TEU per year.

Rail and intermodal terminals benefit from the software’s fully automatic train load optimizer which provides optimization in both pre-planning as well as while loading is in progress.

Railway car and container information for both incoming and outgoing trains are imported into the system via interfaces allowing the software to create optimized train load plans efficiently.

SyncroTESS intelligently creates multi-step transport chains, assigns work orders to handling equipment, and calculates an optimized position for each load unit based on all available data within the system in real-time. In addition, integrated booking, tracking and tracing, billing, and reporting tools make the software a comprehensive solution for inland terminals.